You're My Lucky Item
by toomanyfeelsforapotato
Summary: Kizuna Saito has just moved to Japan from the UK with her sister. At Shutoku, her best friend, Rika introduces her to her boyfriend, Takao and his best friend, Midorima. Both these tsunderes start off their relationship with arguments and squabbles, but it soon blossoms into something they would never have imagined. Midorima X OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone, Nidhi here! This is the first time I'm writing Midorima, so do forgive me if he's a bit OoC! I just wanted to clarify that whenever Sakura and Kizuna are talking to each other, if the entire sentence is in italics, it means they're talking in English. Do leave me your reviews, and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing this!**

* * *

'_SAKURA! I told you to wake me up two hours before we have to leave for school! I don't want to be late for the first day!' _Kizuna got up with a start and screeched at her little sister who brushing her golden hair at the foot of the blanket strewn bed.

'_Don't blame me, Zuna! I tried. Thrice. The first time you told me that I'd wish for something as sweet as pain if I kept bothering you, the second time you threw your alarm clock at my head and third you just mumbled.' _Sakura sighed as she extended her hand towards her elder sister, who took it as she pulled her up.

'Now get up. We'll be late if you don't get dressed and ready in the next thirty minutes.' Sakura winked at her as she effortlessly switched to Japanese, leaving her British accented English behind.

'That wasn't that bad actually, Kura. Do I still sound foreign?' Kizuna did the same and sighed slightly as her sister shrugged.

Living all their lives in London and suddenly moving back to their Japanese homeland was taking a toll on the sisters as both of them struggled to adapt to the language and culture, but over the summer, they blended in rather well. Speaking it was fairly easy since they had been doing that since they were little kids at home but reading and writing was difficult. Also, their British accented Japanese apparently gave off a foreign feel to it, so they tried their best to sound as local and normal as possible.

'Does this mean I have to call you Onee chan from now?' Sakura giggled and called out to her sister who was rushing into her shower.

'Oh god no, Kura! You've called me Zuna for the past 10 years of your life; I doubt I could stand Kizuna Onee _now!'_ She joked as both the sisters broke into peals of laughter.

* * *

'_Eat your breakfast soon or I'll shove it down your throat, I swear to god, Kura. I gave you two pieces of toast, just cram it down so we can leave. Eat it quickly or I'm not packing candy with your lunch.'_

_'No fair! You're skipping yours, so why do I have to eat mine?'_

_'Unlike the antisocial you, I have friends so Rika's getting me breakfast today. Apparently lots of people have their breakfast in the cafeteria.' _

She stuck her tongue out, clearly playing with her sister, who was always popular in her class, the opposite of her elder sibling who could only call two people in her previous class of thirty her friends. However, this summer, Sakura barely ventured out of the house, studying up on Japanese, whereas Kizuna learnt from their neighbor, Rikako. It turned out that both of them were going to the same high school, Shutoku High, and Rikako had promised to show them the way to Sakura's school too.

As Sakura finished her toast, she brushed away the crumbs stuck around her mouth and threw her schoolbag at her. Both of them slung their bag across their shoulders and Kizuna hurriedly stuffed their lunchboxes into their bags as they walked out of the now empty house.

'_Saito chaaaaaan! Imouto chaaaan!' _Rika waved to them from across the street as the duo skipped happily to her.

'Rika! I told you not to call me by my last name, we're close enough for you to call me Kizuna. And Saito is my _dad_.'

Rikako smiled and repeated, 'Okay then, _Ki chan, Imouto chan, _let's go!'

* * *

She led them up a path scattered with cherry blossoms as Sakura jumped up and down eagerly as she shrieked, 'That's me!' referring to the fact that cherry blossoms were called sakura.

'Yep, _you'll _soon be run over by multiple vehicles of varying weights, people will step over you and others will admire the beauty of your mangled body parts that will wither.'

'_Zuna's cruel.'_

_'So is the world.'_

_'I'm 10, to me the world isn't cruel.'_

_'Well, I'm 16, and I'm preparing you for it.'_

_'Zuna's mean.'_

_'So is life.'_

'Aw, sibling love is adorable,' Rika sighed, only to receive weird stares from the duo. 'I wish I had a sister or brother. How fun it'd be to boss them around.'

'Pulling the elder sister card is always fun.' Kizuna agreed and Sakura chirped, 'IT"S UNFAIR!'

Smiling at the arguing siblings, Rika signaled towards the blossom strewn block of buildings they had nearly walked by. 'Alright, imouto, this is where you'll be studying. Shutoku has a middle school branch separate from our high school batch, so this is where we'll leave you. Alright?'

Kizuna kissed her on her forehead and smoothed out her short blonde hair, as she wheeled towards her school.

'_If anyone bothers you, or tries bullying you, or gives you a hard time, tell me and I'll make sure they won't be anytime soon!' _She shouted out towards her sister who was slowly disappearing in the crowd.

_'Zuna! Don't scream things like that, they're embarrassing!'_

_'Ah, whatever. I'm the only one who gets to boss you around!' _Kizuna giggled as Sakura waved before turning around a corner.

* * *

Rikako waved too, and once the third grader was out of sight, they walked towards their new school which was rather close by.

'We'll have our opening ceremony, which I can _promise_ will be boring, then we'll get to see which section each of us are in. Hopefully, you, Kazu kun, Mido kun, and I will all be in the same class.

'Who're "Kazu kun" and "Mido kun"?' Kizuna raised an eyebrow as they entered their school compound to receive a lot of glances and stares, mostly due to Kizuna's golden hair and foreign appearance.

'Kazu-kun's my boyfriend, and Mido-kun is his friend. They're practically inseparable since they're on the basketball team together. Mido-kun was a part of the _Kiseki no Sedai._' Rikako explained while not so politely staring back and muttering at people who made her best friend feel uncomfortable.

'Shutoku has a miracle?' Kizuna looked fairly impressed as her basketball buff father had always been chirping on and off about a highly talented middle school team that had caught his attention.

'We do! And he might be your type too,' Rika nudged her and Kizuna stared back, having absolutely no interest in finding a boyfriend at the moment.

'Thanks, but no thanks.' Zuna shrugged.

'Oh, there they are!' Rikako turned red and waved to a black haired boy and a tall green haired boy across the school auditorium they had just entered.

The black haired one seemed to be extremely enthusiastic, whereas the other seemed to be rather bored and uninterested.

'I'm guessing the hyper kid on a sugar high's your boyfriend?'

'He is! How'd you know?'

'Ah, he seems like the kind of person you'd fall for.'

He stuck out his hand as he walked over to them. 'Takao Kazunari. You must be Ri chan's friend, Saito san?'

She nodded and shook his hand. 'Kizu- _ oh wait, you guys do it the other way around, don't_ _ya? Dammit, I always forget. _Saito Kizuna. Nice to meet you.' She bit her lip as she realised she switched to English unconsciously.

'American?'

'British.' She corrected, suppressing a smile at how everyone always mixed up her nationality despite the two accents not sounding in any way similar.

'_Baka,Takao. _It's obvious she's British the way she brushes past the t.'

'Shin chan's so mean,' Kazunari protested. 'I bet you didn't get it either!'

'You must be Midorima Shintarou.' She studied the boy's tall, lean, but visibly strong figure with an impressed look.

'How'd you know?'

'Rika told me there was a Kiseki member here. Figured that with your stats, it's you.'

'Stats?' The emerald eyed player asked with just a hint of curiosity as he adjusted his glasses.

'I can see you spend most of your training building up your arm muscles but at the same time you keep your lean figure to increase speed and agility. Your stamina isn't that bad either, and you're practically an all rounder. Takao's numbers are also extremely high, but yours are on a level of their own. And considering that everyone else here has poor to average physical strength, it's practically obvious it's you. That, and Rika told me.' She kept a serious face as she explained his strengths, but could barely suppress a smile at the end.

He seemed slightly amused with her final remark, but was more interested in her explanation. 'You're a daughter of a trainer like the Seirin coach?'

'No idea who she is at all, but no. My father isn't a trainer, he's owns a bank in London. I played volleyball, football, badminton and throw ball in the UK. I used to study the other team's opponents before playing, and our coach taught me how to analyse their body type, stamina levels and to find their weak points.'

'Why did you switch between so many sports? And can you figure out what my weak points are?'

'They were all too boring. And of course I can. By the way you keep those fingers on your left hand taped up; I'd say you consider them important. Arm muscle buildup, so I'd say you shoot three pointers mostly and you're a shooting guard. Your agility may cover it up, but since you're a leftie considering how all your primary reflexes are carried out by your left hand, all passes will come from the left. And though your accuracy does not decline as you move farther away from the hoop, though the shooting time does.'

Takao's mouth hung open and Midorima raised his eyebrows.

'Ki chan, you should become the team manager! You'd really help us out!'

'How exactly did this kid go from Saito san to Ki chan in less than five minutes?' she asked herself.

'Do I have to miss a lot of classes?'

'We miss half of lunch hour and Math, and all of the English and History hours. Team members stay back until 7, at the most 8, to train, and we have access to the school campus on weekends to catch up on missed portion and we can ask for tutors if necessary. Most of us help each other out though.'

'As long as I don't miss Japanese, I'd love to. It'll be my worst subject for sure,' she grumbled.

Takao and Rikako smiled to each other as they pushed Midorima towards a surprised Kizuna.

'Shin chan can help you with Japanese and you can help him in English! It's the only subject in which he barely scrapes A's.'

'But Japan's English is so easy.' She muttered under her breath, unwilling to spend after school hours with someone she didn't like very much.

'I could say the same about Japanese.' He mumbled, clearly unwilling to be tutored by someone he just met.

'Aw you two, just _agree_ that you need help!' Takao sighed.

As the pair grudgingly settled on joint study sessions, Rikako whispered to her boyfriend.

'We've got _two_ tsunderes now. God knows what we'll do with them.'


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

* * *

'He is the single most annoying person I have ever met. Midorima, more like Midorim_ass._'

Kizuna sighed to Rika as she glanced over to Midorima and Takao deep in conversation across the class. Rikako silently signalled a 'No luck here. What about your end?' to her boyfriend who seemed to be bored of Midorima's tiring and never-ending monologue.

'She has officially become the most irritating person I know. And considering I know you and Momoi, that is a lot, Takao. Saito, more like _psycho_.' Midorima continued, listing every flaw he found in the blonde over the day they had spent together. Takao let out an exasperated sigh as he signalled back a, 'Same here.' to his blue haired girlfriend who looked slightly crestfallen.

* * *

'Back to your seats, class!'

The chatter from all around the classroom was cut abruptly by the entrance of their homeroom teacher, Mikami-sensei who glared at the remaining groups of children still deep in conversation until they scattered back into their seats As she waited for the silence that was broken by the noisy high schoolers to return, she flicked a little piece of lint off her crisp black tie. The etiquette that Shutoku prided itself on was upheld by all the members of the institution and the teachers were no exception to the strict discipline that everyone followed. Even the ever hyper Kazunari seemed to adopt a serious face for the time being, (_for once in his life, she thought) _as everyone held their breath, waiting for her to break the now eerily heavy silence.

'Very good.' She broke the neutral expression that she had worn as her smile made her eyes light up. The air that hung around the class lightened considerably as she started off in a lively, yet not casual tone.

'Now that all of you have found your places, I hope you're all happy with the seating arrangement?' The only ones in the classroom of excited and happy teenagers who wore a sour expression were Midorima and Kizuna as they both stared at each other in disgust. Rikako and Takao sandwiched the two, forcing them to sit next to each other. Mikami noticed their displeased expressions, but was reassured by the barely controllable laughter that threatened to erupt from the red faces of their respective best friends.

'Since this is your first year and most of you are probably new to each other, I'd like you all to come up here and introduce yourselves.' The introductions of the rest of the class went by rather quickly, most only saying their middle school and where they came from before skipping back into their seats.

'Kimura Rikako-san?' Mikami called to the girl sitting in the middle bench, reading her name out from the register, just as a 'Izumi Ayuzawa' with mousy brown hair shied into her seat after forcing out a few words in her squeaky, barely heard voice.

Tucking a flyaway strand of her soft, sapphire hair behind her ear, Rika walked to the front of the class. She smoothed out her neatly ironed black skirt and locked her stormy grey eyes with Saito's of liquid gold, something she did to calm herself down. As her fidgeting fingers relaxed, and tapping toes stood still, her posture erect and confident, Kimura's clear voice rang out through the class.

'Hello everyone! I'm Kimura Rikako, and I'm from Kansei Academy. My best subjects are Japanese History and Biology. I'd like to become an author when I get older, and I'm currently working on my first novel. I play the violin and I've also helped out the basketball team with their practices by writing up practice regimens for each player. My parents are both software engineers who work late hours, so my closes friend apart from Ki chan, is my dog, Sebu. I listen to classical music mostly, but I definitely don't mind some pop from time to time. That's all, I guess. It's a pleasure to meet you all!'

As she walked back to her seat, there were several whispers of 'Nice to meet you too!' and 'You're awesome!' directed towards the rapidly reddening girl who plopped own on her chair.

'I can't believe I was so nervous.' She confessed to her slightly worried friend. 'I've never been really good with talking to new people.'

After reassuring her for the fifth time that no one could make out that she was nervous as she spoke, Kizuna turned her attention back to her front of the class, while still calming Kimura down by gently holding her hand. She watched Takao skip back to his chair next to Midorima after simply stating his name, middle school, and basketball position. After being subjected to the not so innocent glances of the girls of the class, he felt inclined to add that he was taken, and perfectly happy with her, which made Rika smile and brought some colour back to her pale cheeks.

'Saito Kizuna-san?' Mikami beamed as Kizuna smiled back at her friend, and walked to the front of the class fro the very back. She brushed her fringe out of her eye and back to her side braid as she ran her fingers through her hair. Brushing an untouched, but barely noticeable bread crumb from her dark skirt, she turned towards a class eager to hear from the foreign looking new girl. She cracked her fingers behind her back, a habit she inherited from her father. She unconsciously bit her lip, trying not to cry as she remembered how her mother would scold her after seeing her and Sakura picking up what she called a nasty habit. Sh pushed out thoughts of her mother from her already over clogged head as she silently told herself that thinking about Marianne Saito was the last thing she needed right now.

'My name is Saito Kizuna. I've lived all my life in the UK, and I've moved back here this year along with my little sister, Sakura. My mother is British, but since my father, Shinya Saito is Japanese, I can speak it perfectly, as you can see. I can play the drums and guitar, and excepting basketball, I've played nearly every sport you can play as a middle schooler, from hockey to soccer. My grades are alright, I've never slipped below an A plus. Japanese rock bands are amazing, and Granrodeo is my favourite! I'll probably own the bank my father does in London at the moment, but if it were left up to me, I think I'd like to make a difference by becoming a neurosurgeon. That about sums me up. Do you guys have any questions?'

She added the last bit as she looked at the puzzled faces that looked at her from all across the room.

'Did you get your hair from your mom? I love it!'

'That's very nice of you to say, thank you. I did, m-my mother has the very same hair.' She smiled at the compliment, but as she was forced to talk about her mother, the words caught in her throat, a split second stuttering and hesitation that no one except the three sitting in the back noticed. She tried her best to cover it up by conversing fluently and answering the other questions promptly, but she knew that they understood something was wrong.

Whispers of 'Man, you play the drums and you're a rock fan? Woah, you're cool!' and 'How come you're so pretty?' greeted her as she brushed off the questions with a couple of words and a laugh. But all the smiles she gave the others didn't stop the trio from thinking there was something wrong.

* * *

'It's nothing!' She reassured them, in a high pitched tone, exasperated as she finished the last of the peanut butter sandwich, brushing the crumbs off her desk. 'I just stutter sometimes! I's not that big a deal! There's nothing wrong!' But of course, there was.

Kizuna stuffed her books back into her bag and zipped it up as the bell signalling the end of her first day of high school gave three shrill rings that were sure to wake up any sleeping or drowsy students. She turned to Midorima and spoke, in a rather civil tone for a couple that had been squabbling over the smallest of things including who gets to use more of the desk they shared.

'Shintaro, I'll be slightly late to practice. I have something to do, so I'll be there in about half hour.'

Midorima popped a vein. 'My name is still Midorima to you, Saito. And it's alright, I miss the first thirty minutes too.'

'Ugh, Shintaro! Don't you guys find it weird that people'll call you the same thing they call the rest of your family? I mean, what if you have a sibling and I call you both Midorima? Pretty sure you'd be confused. And Saito is my bespectacled dad, sitting in a huge office. Not a schoolgirl.'

'Now that you mention it...' His voice trailed off as he gave in to the blonde's words. 'Alright, Sai- Kizuna.'

'This doesn't make us close, or friends or anything of the sort! So don't go getting the wrong impression or thinking that I-' Before he could get the wrong idea, she clarified the basis of their first name relationship.

'As if I would, _baka_.' Midorima cut off her explanations with a flick of his hand.

Parting with a fairly affable and courteous goodbye, she wheeled around and she turned on her heel, walking towards Rikako who was waiting for her. As they waited for the crowd that had formed round the doors of the building to disperse in their usual orderly manner, she sat down on the staircase next to the basketball courts. She caught a glimpse of the team members and she couldn't stop staring.

Not only were their stats of the regulars extremely high, their bench strength wasn't to be laughed at. they worked together beautifully as a team, each player complementing another and they meshed and gelled perfectly. 'If this is their strength without Shintar_aho_, then I wonder what they're like with him.' She thought to herself. Kimura's hand on her shoulder broke her out of her thoughts as they noticed the crowd had thinned considerably and it would be easier for them to get out of the school.

'They're all brilliant, aren't they?' Rikako asked reading Kizuna mind as they walked up a sunlit road still strewn with the morning's flower petals. A cool breeze kept the weather from getting too hot as couples and families walked hand in hand alongside the winding street that was devoid of vehicles.

'They are.' She muttered as she absentmindedly kicked a stone while dragging her feet behind a Rika who still for some reason didn't seem like the day sucked all the happiness and spirit out of her.

'Have you ever seen Shintaro play?' Saito asked a smiling Rika as she pulled out her water bottle, squirting some cool liquid into her parched mouth.

'Once,' she mused, 'and his form was perfect, stance was impeccable.'

They talked about the team and how they could improve he players individually and increase the team play until a large board with the letters 'SHUTOKU MIDDLE SCHOOL' pained on them in big and neat white letters greeted them at the very spot that they waved goodbye to Sakura earlier in the day. Kizuna bit her lip as her eyes searched the crowd of tiny things for her little sisters and became mildly anxious when she couldn't find her.

'It's Sakura. So look for the biggest group of people, and she'll be in the middle.' She thought to herself as she scanned the crowd once again, this time following the criteria she had set herself from simply knowing her sister, she found and blonde head in the center of a group of at least 20 kids.

'_Kura!'_ She called and the very same blonde head whipped around as soon as she heard her voice. Sakura waved goodbye to the group as she ran towards her sister, arms outstretched.

Kizuna lifted her up in a hug before giving her a kiss on the forehead and mussing up her straight golden hair. Her little sister gave Rikako a hug as well, before narrating her days experience to her sister.

'_I'll skip the really boring bits where I got put onto my class and we had to introduce ourselves and everything, those parts of the day were fairly uninteresting. But, Zuna, I made the best friend ever! You have to meet her please? Pretty please? She's gettin' her sibling too, you guys are probably the same age too! Pleee~ase?'_

_'As long as she isn't annoying. Or her sibling. But I have to go back to school once I drop you home, alright? Remember what we used to do when Mom and D-'_ Seeing the happy expression on her sister's face change at the mention of their mother, Kizuna quickly took back her words. '_Remember how to lock the house down and stay like that for two hours, and I'll be home, okay?'_

Sakura vigorously nodded in compliance as she practically dragged her sister behind her to where her friend was apparently waiting. A laughing Rika soon received a call and said she'd have to go, but would meet up with the two later, if possible.

'_So what is her name anyways?'_

_'Saachi! It's a really pretty name, isn't it?'_

_'Last name?'_

_'Don't really remember. I called her by her first name since we met, really.'_

When Sakura finally found Midorima Saachi standing there with her brother, Shintaro, she didn't understand why her sister's eye was twitching and she looked as if she'd been punched in the gut. When Saachi finally dragged her overprotective brother to meet her best friend, Saito Sakura, she didn't understand why her brother was staring at her sister and popped a vein.

_'Zuna, this is Saachi and this is Shi-'_

'Shin-Nii, this is Sakura and this is Ki-'

Both of them cut off their siblings attempts to re-introduce them as the pointed fingers at each other and proceeded to holler at each other.

'SHINTARO WHY ARE YOU HERE?'

'I COULD ASK YOU THE SAME THING, KIZUNA?'

'You both know each other?' The bewildered younger siblings who could only watch what was going on asked in unison, both utterly puzzled.

'_Of course I do, Kura! I'm his team manager!'_

_'_Obviously, Saachimouto chan. She's my team manager and classmate.'

'That's brilliant then! You guys can take us out to the mall this weekend!'

'The what?' Kizuna glared at Sakura who stuck her tongue out, clearly not worried in the slightest.

'The where?' Midorima glared at Saachi and twirled her hair, playfully avoiding his gaze.

'We kind of decided we'll be going out his weekend...?' Saachi raised her head up and pleaded with her brother, opening her emerald eyes as wide as possible and trying to act the most innocent she could.

'And that you guys'll take us...?' Sakura pleaded, her puppy dog eyes melting Kizuna.

'Oh god, those _eyes_.' Both the elder siblings finally gave in, their sisters' innocent act was enough to plead with anyone. The innocent look was wiped off their faces in a instant, the mask of cuteness torn and the previously heart breaking expression on their faces was replaced by a gleeful one.

'We win!'

'_Kura, shut up, or I'm changing my mind.'_

_'Even if you do, we know exactly what to do with you both don't we?'_

_'Kura, I'm warning you.'_

_'Alright, I'll shut up! But how come you both are on first name terms on the first day, Zuna. You're dating on the first day of school? Whoa, I didn't know you were actually popular.'_

_'Kura, shut it. I don't date, and much less Shintaro.'_

_'So what you're saying is you're both tsunderes?'_

_'KURA!'_

_Alright, alright! I'll drop the topic.'_ Sakura promised to leave the topic alone, but the wild look in her eyes said otherwise.

The two Midorima's trailing behind them were relatively quieter than the blonde, squabbling siblings. 'Her English is impeccable. It actually might have been a good idea to agree to tutoring sessions.' Shintaro silently thought to himself as his sister ran to catch up with the other two, beckoning for him to follow quickly.

'I'll be dropping Kura home and then attending practice. If I'm late please tell Coach I'm sorry? Sakura'll be alone for a little while so I'll have to put anything she needs ready.'

'You're leaving your sister home alone?'

'Well, yeah. But she can take care of herself, since my parents aren't in Japan.'

'You both live alone?'

'Uh uh.'

Saachi butted into the conversation by shaking her head, her two pigtails whipping around for more effect. She pouted and pulled Sakura towards her.

'Can't Sakura san stay with me at our house until you come to pick her up?'

Kizuna thought for a little while before turning to her younger sibling. 'What do you think, Kura? You'll stay there?'

'Yeah, that'd be great!' She screeched, nodding her head rapidly.

Kizuna and Shintaro smiled as the two sisters bounded back down the street on the road that wound towards the Midorima's house which you could barely see. But from what she could see and make out, it looked warm and inviting. There was a beautiful orange glow that spilled out from the clean windows and the house itself was in pristine condition. She felt a twinge of jealousy, that she quickly pushed away, but she was envious of the loving families that everyone she saw had. How different her own was. Their huge mansion seemed empty and cold, but their comparatively smaller house seemed happy and warm.

'Kizuna, you lied to Rikako, didn't you? You lied to me and to Takao. There is something wrong, even if you don't tell us what it is.'

Seeing as there was no point in trying to make the stubborn Midorima believe what he already decided against, she sighed. 'Yeah, there is. Maybe I'll tell you about it someday. If we're close enough.'

'Then maybe I can help you.'

He stopped and turned towards her. When he smiled, under the intensity of his gaze, Kizuna felt her cheeks get unnaturally hot as a deep red colour seeped into them. She tried covering it up with her hands, but this only served to emphasize the fact that her cheeks were no longer their original colour.

'Kizuna, are you okay?' Midorima seemed concerned as he looked at her rapidly reddening face. He put a hand on her forehead to take her temperature, and was alarmed at the fact that she was burning up. 'You're sick!' he exclaimed, pulling his water bottle out, offering it to her, hoping that the drink would cool her down.

'I-I'm okay, baka! I don't fall sick that easily!' But when she realised that Shintaro's hand was on her forehead, her eyes widened.

Midorima quickly realized that too, as he pulled away, his cheeks turning pink too. 'Oh shit, why am I blushing?' he scolded himself.

'_Why the fuck am I so flustered for this guy? Hormones of a teenage girl are shitty little things.'_ Kizuna told herself as they awkwardly continued walking.

They walked down the path opposite the one their sisters had taken to be led back to the now deserted school.

* * *

'U-um, hello! I-I'm Kizuna, and I'm your new team manager!' She bowed to the bewildered boys of the Shutoku team. Midorima was missing, but she figured that he went to change into his sports wear. For some reason, the thought of seeing him in shorts make her feel rather... unnatural.

A tall player whom she identified as the captain, Otsubo seemed unimpressed. 'The way Takao was talking about you, I expected more than a stuttering junior.'

'But Otsubo senpai! Just watch her do it! Takao protested, now turning to Kizuna! 'Ki chan, do the thing!'

She assumed that by 'the thing' he meant read out their stats. 'Alright. But take your shirts off.'

All the boys stared at her, thinking what she said was a joke. But then she clarified, 'No, I promise I'm not a crazed fangirl. It 's just that I can see all your stats better without your shirts on.'

Everyone in the court mumblingly agreed and took their sweaty shirts off, including Midorima who just walked onto the court in a blue shirt and shorts.

Kizuna's eyes lit up immediately, this team was amazing! She quickly read out the stats for each player, naming their weaknesses and strengths, and for the rest of practice, she paired them with one other person who would complement their skills, before finally grouping them all back together and making them play together as a team. She knew they improved slightly, but there was still a long way they could go.

At 7:30, the coach finally told the team to split up and go hone to rest. The boys could barely move, and she smiled as she extended her hand to an exhausted Shintaro sitting on the ground.

'If you go get changed soon, I'll walk home with you.'

'_That's _ your idea of encouragement? That'll make me _stay_ in the locker rooms.'

'Very funny, Shintaro. But I suck with directions, and I still have to pick up Kura.'

'Alright. Give me five minutes.

Shintaro changed into his school uniform surprisingly quickly and they walked off towards the Midorima house together. Takao seemed hyper behind them as he screeched, 'O_oooh, walking together are we? Ki-chan's going to Shin-chan's house now!'_

As if preplanned, both the high schoolers turned red and growled, 'TAKAO, SHUT IT!'

'Sure, sure, you tsunderes. Have fun together.' he whispered as they walked along awkwardly and extremely red.

When Takao was sure he was out of Midorima's shooting range, he decided to add a bold, 'DON'T FORGET TO USE PROTECTION!' He knew he probably wouldn't make it home alive the next day. But, ah, it was worth it.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

* * *

Kizuna had grown used to the routine over the past week. Get pulled out of bed by an unusually hyper Sakura at 6 AM, make her breakfast and meet up with Rikako, drop Sakura at school, endure the torture of high school, see off Sakura to Shintaro's house, make the boys grovel at practice, pick up Sakura and politely decline Mrs. Midorima's offer to let the siblings stay over. And go home and cry at the tonne of homework she picked up from various classes over the day. She barely had any time for herself as she'd drop on her bed as soon as she could, her eyelids buckling under the weight of overexertion. The weekend came as a pleasant relief to her as the coach suggested she take the weekends off when the team worked on the basics of passing and shooting. And that's why when Sakura Saito continued _her_ morning routine of wrenching the covers off her sister, she cursed and groaned at the middle schooler at the foot of her bed.

'_Damnit Kura! It's 6 in the morning and I want to sleep. Leave me alone! It's Saturday for god's sake.'_ Kizuna hissed at her sister in a raspy voice, throwing a pillowy soft mass at her head.

_'It is a Saturday which is precisely why you need to get up right now, Zuna.' _The younger Saito smirked knowingly as she shoved the contents of her sister's late night study session back into her bag and zipping it up with a look which clearly read, 'You're lucky to have me.'

'_Leave my books outside, Kura, I need to stud- Oh shit.'_ She smacked her head as she remembered. _Weekends were her tutoring sessions with Shintaro. _And as someone who continually harped on about the importance of punctuality and time sense, she couldn't very well show up hours late.

_'Now get dressed and get out.' _Her sister pushed her into the shower and pressed a pair of clothes into her outstretched hands before whirling off into the kitchen as she caught the scent of burning toast. Kizuna heard a couple of shrieks, presumably at the sight of her breakfast burnt black and an overexaggerated sigh coming from their kitchen, followed by the smell of more burning.

'My drama queen sister,' she thought to herself, smiling, as the water poured over her, washing away the layers of anxiety, tiredness and fatigue, 'What would I do without you?'

* * *

Midorima tapped his watch as he waited for Kizuna outside the school campus.

'That Kizuna,' he muttered under his breath, 'she always harps about being punctual and she's the late one today.' He caught sight of himself in the glass window of a nearby shop and unconsciously smoothed out his shirt. 'Don't get so worked up about how you look, damnit, it's just Kizuna.' He tried to scold himself for getting flustered over his classmate but was interrupted by the sight of the very same running and skidding around a corner, panting for breath.

For a second his eyes widened and heart fluttered. Her cheeks were red with exertion and she had brushed the hair that usually covered half her face out of the way. Kizuna had dressed simply, she wore a pair of light blue jeans and a sand coloured shirt whose sleeved she had rolled up for her own ease while writing. She looked different from the girl he'd known at school who would hide her face and would stay away from the popular groups.

He shook his head, trying to clear his now fogged up mind as he jogged over to Kizuna and extended a hand to steady her know off balance body which swayed slightly from side to side, showing signs of toppling over any instant.

She forced out a, 'Sorry Shintaro' between her pants and seeing how she clearly wasn't in a position to jump into academics at the moment, Midorima brushed off her apologies with a wave and walked her to a cool drink dispenser. Inserting two coins in the slot, he retrieved a soda can and a can of red bean soup. He threw the soda to the blonde who had settled on the bench nearby and seemed to finally have caught her breath as he flicked the cap open, sipping his drink.

'Kizuna, are you okay? D'you need some water or something?'

'_No thanks mate, I'm good with what I've got now. Thanks for the drink, though. Sorry again for the delay.'_

'What?'

Kizuna giggled at the sight of how baffled he looked at her speaking in English. She got up and as they walked back towards the library to study, she explained, switching back to Japanese. 'I thought we'll start off the dual tutoring session by me teaching you conversational English. My Japanese isn't as bad as your English, so it couldn't hurt to teach you first.'

'_O-okay.'_ He replied, stammering and awkwardly, but at least it was a start.

'_Oh-kayy',_ she corrected as the pushed the doors of the library open to begin their three hours of hell.

* * *

'No, Shintaro, English has an L, unlike Japanese. LUH! Not ruh!' She banged her head on the table, it really was impossible to teach this boy.

'_Ing-uh-ri- no, no, ing-uh-lish?'_ Shintaro looked to her for confirmation and breathed a sigh of relief as she nodded excitedly.

'_Right, so your English isn't as bad as it was this morning. Get what I'm saying now?'_

'More or less.'

When Midorima finally finished up on the English assignments Kizuna had scrawled haphazardly and pushed over to him, Kizuna punched the air in excitement and gave a cry of victory, only to be angrily shushed and threatened by the librarian who she had never seen with a more menacing air about her.

Realising that she could only congratulate him silently, Kizuna smiled at him, the most genuine smile she could muster.

For a moment, Midorima's jaw relaxed and threatened to hang out. He couldn't explain what it was, but there was something about here, in that moment that made her breathtakingly beautiful. After a few seconds of flustered deliberation, he finally understood. _the smile._ He had never seen her smile before. She had given him sarcastic smiles, and tired smiles, but never one like this. He always assumed that Saito would smile only around Rika, and for a second, he was jealous of Rika and how she'd get to see this much beauty. In that one moment, he didn't see her as Psycho Saito, he didn't see her as baka Saito and neither did he see her as his demonic manager with her hellish practice routines. He saw her as Kizuna. just Kizuna. But _just Kizuna_ was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

He hadn't realised that his has was embarrassingly red until he felt a hand on his forehead. Feeling himself go even redder, his eyes widened at the fact that her hand was on his face.

* * *

'Shintaro, are you alright? You're red and really hot.' Kizuna asked in a concerned tone but when she saw a hint of a smile playing at his lips, she blushed and smacked her forehead.

'I didn't mean you were hot,' she faltered and fumbled to find the right words, 'but no, you _are _extremely hot, b-but I wasn't complimenting you.' She frowned exaggeratedly as he continued to smile at her.

Finally giving up, she threw her hands in the air. '_Goddamit Shintaro, you're cute as heck and I can see that clear as day, but I'm trying to say you're burning up and I'm worried about you!'_

She brushed aside his attempts to decipher what she just blabbered as fast as she could and proceeded to pack up her things, brushing all her books into her bag in one graceful sweep of her hand.

'Wait, we aren't done with your bit of the studies, how come you're packing up?'

'Two things, Shintaro. One, my Japanese isn't as bad as your English and therefore doesn't need as much attention, and two, you look like you have a fever. You need some rest and I know you're tired from all the practice.'

'But-'he wavered for a second, deciding whether to argue or to give in and finally agreed, 'Ah, alright. I'll drop you home, though, it's getting late.'

'Ooh, quite the perfect gentleman, are we now?'

'Quiet, Kizuna, or I'll leave you behind.'

Giggling to herself, she followed him out of library and into the now, dusk tinged streets of her city.

* * *

'Say, Kizuna,' Shintaro asked as they could just barely see her house through the twists and turns of the winding lanes, 'What is it about your mother that bothers you so much? Saachi told me Sakura is close to tears whenever someone brings it up?'

Kizuna shoulders went rigid as she stopped walking. Her teeth were gritted and it seemed to be a great effort just to bring herself to talk on the matter.

'It's a long story and not one I want to discuss. I'm in an unusually good mood today after a rather pleasant day with you and I'm not going to let Marianne spoil everything just like she's always done. Just tell Saachi not to bring that woman up in front of Kura. I've always tried to shield her the best I could from her and she's too young to bear anymore.' She tried her best not to be rude but the sheer venom with which she spat her mother's name horrified Midorima, who taken aback, decided to not press her for anymore.

* * *

They walked in an awkward silence after this and the silence was only broken by Sakura catching sight of the two from her window and waving. Giggling slightly, and breaking the eerie hush, Kizuna waved back, the pain and rage on her face replaced by genuine laughter.

Midorima couldn't help but smile at the two sisters in front of him and immediately reverted to his usal tsundere self when Kizuna turned to look at him.

'I-It's not like I find your relationship cute or anything, n-nanodayo.'

Kizuna cocked an eyebrow and gave him a wry smile; she now knew this tsundere only too well to find the compliment hidden in his statement. Assuring him she could walk the fifteen steps to her house without his assistance, she gave him a one armed hug before skipping off towards her waiting sister.

'I-It's not like I find her cute or anything, right? Well maybe a little. Okay, a lot.' Midorima whispered to himself under his breath, thinking she wouldn't have heard.

'Oh, you tsundere Shintaro. Whatever am I going to do with you?' Kizuna whispered back quietly as she caught a whiff of his words, with just the slightest hint of a blush on her cheeks.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

* * *

'Okaa-san! Shin-nii and I are leaving!' Saachi screeched towards the general direction of the kitchen where her mom shouted her goodbyes in reply.

She jogged to catch up with her brother who was already outside the gate and waiting for her. and she clutched his hand as they walked together to school, the same way they had done since as long as Saachi could remember. Their morning routine consisted of Shintaro helping her with her homework as early as possible, getting her ready, picking up Takao, and dropping her at school before walking off towards his own. She loved the morning routine, but recently it would alter, quite a lot. They would run into the Saito sisters and the elder siblings would awkwardly exchange a few words, but she knew.

She knew that her elder brother like Sakura's onee-chan and the only thing that prevented him from saying anything was him being a tsundere. Even here Takao Nii-chan knew it and every morning when he would catch up to them, they giggle about him as he walked ahead. But she also knew that is Zuna nee-chan liked him too, she wouldn't be one to back down if he was too tsundere to confess. And that's what kept her smiling whenever she saw the duo, squabbling and fighting, or smiling and complimenting each other. Because, it'd happen soon enough, wouldn't it?

* * *

Midorima smoothed out his hair as he put his bag on his table and sat down on a chair next to Kizuna who seemed to be deep in conversation with Rikako. They made a few animated gestures, and though slightly worried at the heated nature of their talk, he turned his attention back to the class and a notice written in the unmistakably neat writing of their teacher caught his eye.

He walked to the front of the class, to get a clearer view of the note which read:

_Here at Shutoku, we do not value only academics. We aim to develop students in all fields. Therefore after several meetings, we have decided on various contests for all grades. The contest list and registration lists are posted on the noticeboard at the entrance. All students must participate in at least one event, maximum three. This is mandatory as it will affect your grades. Sign up before lunch. ~Mikami Ayame_

Rolling his eyes, he signalled to Takao who seemed to have involved himself in their conversation as well. He seemed to be on Kizuna's side but still wary of not angering his girlfriend. Unable to catch Midorima's subtle gestures, Takao argued on until he lost his cool and called out for him.

'Takao.'

His head shot up and when he caught Midorima's disgruntled expression, he immediately apologised to the girls and came running over to his side, and they walked off into the lobby.

'What were they arguing about? Seemed pretty serious.'

'Pop vs Rock.'

'They're both idiots.'

'But one of them is _my idiot_.'

Midorima couldn't help but smile at how much in love Rikako and Takao were. Still grinning, he found the registration sheets and noticed that a startling number of students had already registered.

He signed himself up for essay writing and poetry. He looked around for a third contest, because the more he'd enter, the better chance of a good grade he'd have. The cake making caught his eye, but his times at Teiko with cake making were far too traumatising for him to take it up again.

Momoi had begged him to be her partner because Aomine had seemed obviously disinterested and the rest were busy. Wondering how bad it could be, he went along with her only to find out how bad her cooking was. The cake blew up thrice and they gave up on their fourth try when she put in salt instead of sugar.

He was about to turn away when he saw a familiar signature scrawled at the bottom. '_Midorima Saachi',_ the name read and he sighed, and signed his name below hers, knowing he'd never hear the end of it if he hadn't participated in the same competition as hers and missed out on a chance to be in the same team. It was nearly a rule for teachers to out siblings together and he'd rather be with her than anyone else.

Shrugging, he walked back to the classrooms with Takao who had signed up for everything Rikako had. He found that the debate was forgotten and Rika and Kizuna were laughing again in high pitched shrieks. It looked like they had never argued.

'Girls.', he thought to himself as he rolled his eyes.

* * *

The classroom fell into a strained silence as their teacher walked in during lunch break, holding some papers in her hands. Their tests had been held a week back and the class held its breath as she passed the sheets around, each paper holding student grades.

Kizuna's eyes glittered as she snatched up hers, and her eyes went dull as she slammed her head onto the bench wailing.

Rikako ruffled her hair and reassured her it was okay, after all it was her first test in Japan, but she continued to be morose. She wiggled the results out from under Kizuna's arm and punched her playfully on the arm when her eyes scanned through the page.

'You idiot.' she sighed and when she received curious stares from Midorima and Takao, she passed the paper over to them. Midorima's eyes widened as he read through it's contents.

_Student Name: Saito Kizuna  
__Class: 1-B  
__Overall Grade: A+  
__Biology: 99  
__Mathematics: 100  
__Physics: 97  
__Chemistry: 100  
__History: 95  
__English: 100  
__Japanese: 90.5_

'I barely scraped an A+ in Japanese!' Kizuna pouted at Rikako who looked on with an incredulous expression.

'You idiot, these are amazing results! I bet even Taro-san didn't do this well.' Instead of looking to Midorima for confirmation, she turned to the teacher who gave her a rare smile and nodded.

'We have Saito-san topping this time, Midorima-kun is a close second, missing out on tying with her by 5.5 marks. Kimura-san comes third in this test, with a two point difference from Midorima-kun.' The teacher looked uncharacteristically pleased and she took back the papers, promising they'd all get them at the end of the term. She grinned at the three in the back before whirling out of the classroom, in a dignified swirl of black.

* * *

'Kizuna, it's stupid for you to be worried over these test results. Your mum and dad will be pleased.' Midorima hastily replaced the word 'mum' with parents when he caught sight of the sudden change in her face.

'Yeah,' she mumbled, barely audible, 'I guess so.'

Itching to change the topic as they walked up to pick up their sisters, he decided to bring up that morning. 'So which competitions did you sign up for?'

'Essay, poetry and cake since Kura did too.'

'Huh. I did the same.'

Kizuna's mood was visibly lighter and happier and she smiled. 'I guess we'll be up against each other then. I'm not going easy on you just because you're a friend. You'd better not do that, though.'

A friend. Friend. Midorima's head reeled. He thought she hated him. But she considered him a friend? Somehow the thought made him happy but slightly disappointed him too. He was too surprised to pay attention to what she was saying and finally retorted with a lame and hasty, 'You wish.' when she waved her hand in front of his face, breaking him out of his thoughts.

'So I guess those tutoring sessions paid off, huh?'

'Obviously. You're a great teacher, Shintaro, my Japanese scores were better than I expected them to be.'

'Maybe it'll rain today. Saito Kizuna paid me a compliment? The planets must have aligned.'

'Shut it if you'd like to stay on this one.'

Their banter remained the same but it lost the poison that used to accompany their previous arguments. Their relationship had changed, it was no longer hate, but something beautiful. Retorts dripping sarcasm filled the silent air around them but their words were filled with a sort of brightness that none of them would have thought to associate with the other just weeks back.

Bright. That was the perfect word to describe their relationship. It was the bright golden sunshine that paints the fields, the kind that will invariably fill you with joy and bring a smile to your face. It was everything that made them happy. To Kizuna, it felt like a winter morning, wrapped up in blankets with a mug of hot chocolate. There was someone warm next to her, someone that made her happy. To Midorima, it felt like a long walk on the beach at night, talking about books, his feet free in the sand. His hands were entwined with someone's, and it spread a feeling of joy all the way from the tip of his fingers to his toes. It was beautiful, but the only thing the other wanted to know was who that person was.

* * *

As they walked back home from practice that evening, Kizuna caught sight of a teacher working late posting the teams on the board. Knowing Sakura would be furious if she didn't check it out, to confirm they were together, she skipped towards the notice. Quickly bowing to the teacher as he gave a slight smirk seeing her and the basketball ace at alone at school at dusk, she ran her finger down the list.

'S, S, S, yeah there it is! Saito Kizuna and Midorima Shintaro.'

'WHAT?' The two heads whipped around in unison.

'Who's my sister paired with then?' There was a hint of surprise in the voice.

The reply was paired with a groan and a loud sound of a palm meeting a forehead painfully. 'She's paired with yours.'

Kizuna was nervously biting her nails. Midorima caught whiffs of her jittery words as a cool breeze blew them towards him.

Rolling his eyes, he stopped right next to her and put his hand around her and squeezed. 'It'll be alright, you idiot, we'd make a good team.'

Kizuna's eyes widened and as he realised just how close he was to her, he hastily recoiled. Laughing slightly at his embarrassed gesture, she shrugged off her concerns.

'Of course we will. I was just being over anxious. I do that, quite a lot.'

* * *

When Midorima, being the gentleman he had become, insisted on dropping her off at her doorstep, she waved to him as he walked off.

As he walked off towards the warmth of his house, she whispered under her breath, a dark red tinting her otherwise pale cheeks.

'Thank you, Shintaro.'


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

* * *

'I think we should go with white frosting.'

'Well, that's obvious. What about the cake itself?'

'I can't cook to save my life. You should bake it.'

'At least you're up front and admit. Unlike Momoi.'

'This Momoi girl sounds nice.'

'She is, until she burns the dough and puts in salt instead of sugar.'

'Ah. I've burned down three of my kitchens while attempting to bake so she's a better cook I guess.'

'_Three kitchens?_ Exactly how big was your house, Kizuna.'

'Lets just say I got lost in it once.'

Midorima stifled a laugh at this, knowing that Kizuna probably would get lost even in the relatively small classroom they had with her terrible sense of direction. Shaking his head to get back to topic, he quickly drew out a sketch of the cake they planned to make. When he stepped back to admire his construction skills, Kizuna tiredly shook her head at the intricately carved eight tiered cake blueprint laid out before her.

'Shintaro, we have an hour and half to assemble this. It is not physically possible to do this.'

'Have you got a better idea?'

'All my ideas are better than yours by default.' She stuck her tongue out and with the skill and precision of an artist, she sketched out the details of a simple cake that Midorima too had to agree looked better than his.

She glanced at her watch and seeing how late it had gotten, began to worry. Soon, a list of ingredients was made and she took his leave when they divided the work among themselves.

* * *

When the morning of the contest arrived, the elder Saito was uncharacteristically calm. She showed no sign of nerves, her jittery movements absent. She seemed to be in a reverie of singleminded focus which Rikako shook her hand to break her out of.

'Ki-chan, are you okay?'

'Hopefully.'

'You haven't eaten a single bit of your food, you know? You need energy to run, no matter how stupidly strong you are.'

'I'm not _stupidly strong._'

Rikako rolled her eyes and reminded her of the time where she dented a cup because she was angry.

Kizuna laughed, and her until then dull and lifeless eyes seemed to light up into their original bright gold. 'The cup was flimsy and already half dented, Rika.'

'Damn it. I'll have to go put an end to those _Don't ange Saito or she'll crush your skull in like she does with cups_ rumours then.'

'The _what_ rumors?'

'They're good rumours though!' Rika protested, waving her hands around. 'Who doesn't want half the high school population afraid of pissing you off?'

'Can't argue with Kimura logic.'

Their conversation over breakfast was cut abrupt when Takao and Midorima showed up, just after the three shrill rings of the school bell, signalling the start of their competitions. Midorima gestured for Kizuna to follow him to their alloted spot and Takao madly waved across the hall to his girlfriend.

Wondering if the dark haired boy had ever been serious or calm for once in his life, she slipped out of her bench, her breakfast forgotten, following Midorima's long strides. They got to their allotted spot quick enough and just as Kizuna cleaned up the table, Shintaro unpacked his bag of ingredients.

'You know what, Shintaro?'

'What?'

'I think we may have a shot of getting first here.' Kizuna grinned at him as the emerald eyed boy rolled his eyes at her obvious sarcasm, accustomed to it enough to recognise it immediately.

Both of them whipped their heads around as they heard two familiar voices clear their throats.

'What's that, Saachi-chan?' Sakura's eyebrows shot up as she sliced strawberries casually, her eyes fixed on the duo.

'_Surely _I heard someone's delusion about beating us, Saku-chan.' Saachi's calm expression seemed creepy, even intimidating now as she rested her head on her elbow perched on the table.

Midorima's expression flickered for a second but he replied with an uncharacteristic smile that was more menacing than reassuring.

'I think, Kizuna, it's time to remind a certain someone, who taught her how to cook.'

Caught up in the flow of the siblings throwing around cool dialogues at each other, she rested her elbow on Shintaro's shoulder, looking directly at her sister who seemed to be trying very hard not to laugh.

'And it's time to remind a certain someone of who burnt down a kitchen making toast.'

Stifling giggles at their sisters' expressions, they turned back to their own workspaces, now more determined than ever of eating the team right next to them.

* * *

'ICING! ICING!'

'I'm doing it, Kizuna, stop shouting!'

'MY GRANDMOM ICES FASTER THAN YOU AND SHE'S NINETY, SHIN, YOU SLOWPOKE!'

'WELL, YOU SHOUT MORE THAN MY LITTLE SISTER AND SHE'S A KID!'

Rlling her eyes, Saito shoved the taller boy aside, switching to English as she unleashed her inner demon, swearing and belting out words that made Sakura cringe. With just a minute to go, Shintaro hadn't finished icing their cake yet and kept insisting on perfection, turning her red with anger.

'_Oh for fuck's sake, Shintaro you pretentious carrot, move out of the way and let me finish off the fucking cake. Stop being such an effing perfectionist and let me pass this goddamn test. You and your fusspot attitude will not steal this goddamn prize from me and I will not lose to my younger sister even though she's burnt down more fucking kitchens that I could dream of. So take a step back, take a deep fucking breath, reevaluate your life choice and for fuck's sake, let me take over."_

A stunned Midorima couldn't help but be pushed back as Sakura began applauding, (since their team had finished their cake five minutes ago). Sakura also seemed to be giving shouts of, '_Yeah, tell him, Zuna!'_ apparently trying to encourage her elder sister.

As the bell signalling the end of the competition rung, Kizuna moved back, leaving a beautifully delicate looking cake on the table. It looked professionally made, much less something that two overly stressed out high school presented in 60 minutes, excluding their half hour of bickering. She quickly ran over to Sakura's table, asking her never to repeat what she just yelled, or even breathe a word of the incident to her unbelievably strict parents.

She embarrassedly walked back to her own bench, avoiding the stares she got from the contestants around her. She promptly turned to her partner and bowed as low as she could.

'I'm so sorry, Shintaro. I kinda lost it.'

'Kinda?'

'Well yeah. That's not the worst I can do.'

'I take it I'd never want to see the worst of you.'

'Yeah, pretty much.' She laughed as he did too, and the fact he dodged her apology, trying to make her feel better didn't go unnoticed. They sat and talked until the judges came over to taste their cake.

* * *

Kizuna jumped to her feet as she swiftly cut the delicately balanced cake into an elegant slice, serving it with a smile. She impressed the judges with her English, and quickly saw them off to the next table with a kind and gentle ease you'd never expect from someone like her.

This raised Midorima's eyebrows as he couldn't help but ask, 'Kizuna, where did you learn being _that_ nice?'

'Marianne and Dad were always busy with bank work, so my brother, Kura and I would always be stuck in the Customer Care department. A really nice woman there, Irene, and her daughter, Iris, taught us how to be nice to people even if you don't like them and it's proved pretty useful. So even in situations where normal people would be rude, I can be as polite as I want, if I want to. '

'Wait, you have a brother?'

'Yeah! He's older to me by 6 years though.'

'How come you've never told me about him?'

'You never asked.' She stuck her tongue out as she giggled.

Midorima rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses as Kizuna began to explain everything about Rick as an apology for never telling him about her brother, from the fact he was getting married to Iris in three months to the fact that he didn't like any sugar in his tea. She told him how they would hide under the tables so their mom wouldn't find them just to see her have a mini heart attack and how she once broke Sakura's favourite doll and he took the blame fo it.

When she was done, Midorima understood how she grew up, in a huge house, lonely except for the comfort of her siblings. No wonder she was so overprotective of Kura then.

Just when Midorima began to try and imagine a tiny Kizuna walking around a mansion with tiny pigtails, Sakura jogged over to them, breaking him out of his thoughts, and plopped down right in front of them, pulling the both of them out of their cosy place under the table.

'_You lovebirds can stop talking about Ricky now and go collect your prize.'_

* * *

Kizuna was too surprised at her statement to even care about the lovebirds part. 'Our _what?'_

'Your prize, stupid. Saachi and I got second place, but they want the winners up there.' She began mumbling something about the judges decision being flawed but the two of them already seemed ecstatic.

Kizuna let out screech as she hugged, Shintaro, who was too surprised to even react and could only hug her back with equal gusto, forgetting to be a tsundere just for a little while, and allowing himself to be hugged by this beautiful girl, just for a little while.

And until they took their trophy, nothing else matter to the both of them, because _for the first time_, they proved that them working together didn't mean a _huge_ disaster.


End file.
